3 men hunted for Seralde rape-slay

Following the directive of Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, the Central Police District (CPD) intensified yesterday its manhunt for three more suspects in the rape-slay of a young sampaguita vendor whose body was dumped under a MRT station last week.

According to Senior Inspector Rodolfo Jaraza of the CPD, he has dispatched four police teams to arrest the three suspects believed responsible for the death of Maricel Seralde, 13, a carpenter’s daughter and a resident of Antipolo, Rizal.

Jaraza said two other suspects have already been apprehended.

Jaraza said a stake-out is being conducted by members of the CPD-Central Investigation Division on the known hang-outs of the suspects.

Last Monday, Belmonte ordered the police to immediately crack the case.

"We already know the identities of all the suspects in this case, but we cannot give them out until all of them are arrested. Although we have no time frame, I’m sure all of them will be arrested very soon," Jaraza said.

Seralde’s naked and bloodied body was found under the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) – North Station in Edsa last Thursday. The victim sustained a severe cut in the forehead after being hit with a lead pipe, the police said.

Investigators said Seralde was raped and killed in a vacant lot in Pantranco in Roosevelt, Quezon Avenue by five suspected drug addicts.

According to an investigator, Seralde came from a broken family, who left her home in Antipolo City after allegedly being maltreated by her own father, Marcel. She went on to live with her brother-in-law in a house in Quezon Avenue.

According to Senior Inspector Eduardo Dizon, the suspects are scavengers who work as part-time newspaper vendors. The three suspects at-large are all between 20 to 26 years old. – Matthew Estabillo